James Willingham

Senior FullStack Engineer

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Experience

Lead Software Engineer

Pendo

Jan 2024 – Present

Raleigh, NC

ReactTypeScriptNode.jsExpressNestJSPostgreSQL+14 more
  • •Leading a full-stack team building core SaaS features and driving technical decisions
  • •Designing and implementing REST/GraphQL APIs with sophisticated multi-tenant behavior
  • •Architecting LLM-powered features including semantic search, intelligent summarization, and automation workflows
  • •Building RAG pipelines to extract insights from documentation, tickets, and usage data

Software Engineer

Cisco

Nov 2021 – Dec 2023

Remote

PythonDjangoFlaskPostgreSQLVue.jsDocker+1 more
  • •Developed robust backend services and APIs for analytics and configuration management
  • •Built Vue.js frontends that consumed Django and Flask REST APIs with modern state management
  • •Implemented authentication, authorization, and audit logging patterns for enterprise security
  • •Deployed cloud-native applications with comprehensive observability and high availability

Independent Full-Stack Engineer

Self-Employed

Mar 2020 – Oct 2021

Remote

React NativeReactVue.jsNode.jsExpressMongoDB+4 more
  • •Delivered end-to-end mobile and web applications for diverse client needs
  • •Architected Node.js/Express backends with role-based access control and complex business logic
  • •Integrated payment processing, authentication, and notification services via third-party APIs
  • •Set up CI/CD pipelines and provided architectural guidance to help clients scale

Software Engineer

Pendo

May 2019 – Feb 2020

Raleigh, NC

MongoDBExpress.jsReactNode.jsTypeScriptCI/CD
  • •Contributed to a multi-tenant SaaS analytics platform serving enterprise customers
  • •Built React/TypeScript interfaces connected to Express.js REST APIs
  • •Developed event ingestion and reporting endpoints for real-time analytics
  • •Collaborated with infrastructure and product teams on feature flags and deployment strategies

Full Stack Engineer

Red Hat

May 2017 – May 2019

Raleigh, NC

.NET CorePostgreSQLRESTgRPCReactAngular+2 more
  • •Built full-stack solutions using .NET Core and PostgreSQL for enterprise applications
  • •Developed React and Angular frontends for complex enterprise dashboards and workflows
  • •Designed data access layers and managed database migrations for evolving schemas
  • •Containerized applications and deployed to Kubernetes clusters with CI/CD automation

Full-Stack Developer

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

May 2016 – May 2017

Durham, NC

GolangMicroservicesOracleRESTReactAngular
  • •Developed Go microservices backed by Oracle databases for enterprise systems
  • •Built React and Angular UIs for complex enterprise workflows and data visualization
  • •Wrote optimized SQL queries and managed schema changes for Oracle databases
  • •Participated in code reviews and contributed to CI/CD pipeline improvements

Software Engineer Intern

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

May 2015 – Aug 2015

Durham, NC

JavaSpring MVCSpring BootMySQLAngular
  • •Implemented Java backend features and REST endpoints using Spring MVC and Spring Boot
  • •Developed Angular components integrated with Java APIs for dynamic user interfaces
  • •Collaborated with senior engineers on performance optimization and error handling best practices

Software Engineer Intern

FlexGen

May 2014 – Aug 2014

Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill Area

CC++WPF
  • •Developed C/C++ internal tools and utilities for system operations
  • •Improved WPF desktop interfaces with enhanced usability and performance
  • •Debugged complex issues, optimized performance, and wrote clean code following code review standards

Skills

Languages

JavaScript/TypeScriptJavaC#GoC++PythonSQL

Frontend

ReactNext.jsRedux/Redux ToolkitAngularVue.jsReact QueryTailwindCSSMaterial UIHTML5CSS3/SCSSWebpack/Vite

Backend & APIs

Node.jsExpress.jsNestJSJava Spring Boot/MVC.NET Core/ASP.NETGo microservicesRESTGraphQLgRPC

Cloud & DevOps

AWS (Lambda, API Gateway, ECS, S3, DynamoDB, RDS)DockerKubernetesTerraformCI/CD (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI)

Data & Messaging

PostgreSQLMySQLMongoDBRedisKafkaRabbitMQEvent-driven architecturesMicroservices

LLM & AI

OpenAI APIAzure OpenAILangChainVector databasesRAG pipelinesPrompt engineeringLLM-based automation

Quality & Practices

Unit/integration testingCode reviewsPerformance tuningSecure codingAgile/ScrumTechnical leadership

About James

I'm a Senior Full-Stack Engineer passionate about building clean, responsive, and intuitive products that users love. My expertise spans modern frontend frameworks and cloud-ready backend architectures, with a particular strength in bridging the gap between exceptional user experiences and robust, scalable API design. I thrive on solving complex problems, adapting to new technologies, and collaborating with cross-functional teams. My focus is always on performance, usability, and long-term maintainability—ensuring that the code I write today will serve users and developers well into the future.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Sep 2012 – May 2016 • Chapel Hill, NC